My Thesis is Almost Done
The first draft, anyway. I spent 6 hours just typing typing typing today. My right palm muscle feels bruised. Think what you want, but I think that's some pretty intense typing. I've never worn out my palms typing before.
My husband got a new computer game so I was free to concentrate solely on the thesis without feeling like I should be talking to him more. Because of the 6 hours and intense focus I finally have a clear direction. For the past month and a half I've been writing the practicums for the thesis class and none of them have given me any direction because, really, what does Freud know about Aztecs and their cosmology? There are certain aspects of Aztec and Mayan life that Freud could apply to (like the genital bloodletting to re-birth the gods--ouch) but that's still not as mentally twisted as Freud tends to be. Most of the time I was able to manipulate the topics so that I could write a somewhat coherent short paper, but a couple of them just completely threw me for a loop. Feminism and the Aztec culture in general? Sure, in a round-about way. Feminism and the Aztec Calendar Stone in particular? Not really. The binary opposition was the easiest paper, but I'm getting sidetracked. None of them helped me with the direction of my thesis, which was their intended purpose and that is why the thesis class was changed last year to include practicums into the curriculum. (I personally think that was a mistake because modern day theories often do not lend themselves to ancient or non-western art for the most part--there are exceptions, but for the most part, no.) But after reading reading reading books and articles and journals and microfilms of codices I finally have direction just in the nick of time. I'm very relieved. I can have this first draft done by Thursday so I have time to get feedback from my adviser before the theses are even due for peer review.
It's all about the purpose of the stone. It was for sacrifices to the sun. So my paper is all about the reason for the sacrifices, how they were done, and the iconography on the stone reinforcing the use and meaning of the stone. To be honest, the more I read the more morbid I think it is, but I see how it was absolutely necessary to their religion so I'm completely fine with the turn that my thesis has taken. It's incredibly interesting to me and I'm not even worried about the symposium when I'll have to present the paper (not yet, at least...). I just need to get down the pronunciations (hey, I spelled it in English! I'm constantly spelling that word in French lately). Huitzilopochtli, Nanahuatzin, Coyolxauhqui and Centohuitznahua are not words common to my vocabulary but are also words that I really would like to avoid tripping over during the presentation. I'd like to appear that I know this topic backwards and forwards.
Unneeded French Stress
I did a fantastic job! She said my speed on my reading passage was perfect and that I had the vocab ("mon vol" - my flight) down wonderfully! And I didn't even get hives!
Now for my written Mesoamerican test at 4 this afternoon. I'm not as worried about that one. If there is a civilization I know . . . well, it's Greek. But Mesoamerican probably ties.
Oh, and this morning we locked both sets of keys in the car while the car was running.
I was dropping Jeremy off for class so I got out of my side, locked my door and closed it. He got out of his door, apparently locked it, but left it open for me. Well, we were on a hill so the door closed. That was good for a laugh.
French Stress and My Husband, the Fashion Maven
I cried tonight. Because of French. That's a new low. But I have my Mesoamerican art midterm tomorrow and really, the deities are very confusing. Lots of X's in the names. Hard to remember the difference between One Hunahpu, Seven Hunahpu and just plain ol' Hunahpu. Of course, I remember (One and Seven are brothers and One is plain ol' Hunahpu's father, and Xbalanque is his twin brother and they were born from his [One Hunahpu's] spit that impregnated Lady Blood after his [One Hunahpu's] head was cut off in the underworld (Xibalba) and was planted and a tree grew that apparently still had spit in it...and could talk. But still. Stressful. And tomorrow I have a French oral exam. So I cried because I don't like to look like an idiot and there was a good chance that I would. But then I got myself together and wrote out all the possible conversation topics that could come up and came up with canned phrases that can be used for any subtopics within those topics, and some of the phrases even transcend topics. So if I know those, I'm good. And I figure if I stick in something like, "Il faut pour mon bonheur" (It is necessary for my happiness) after I say something like, "Mon mari faire la vaiselle and ranger la salle de bains" (My husband does the dishes and cleans up the bathroom) I can get a laugh out of her and voila! Time killed.
Speaking of my husband, he's incredibly great with fashion. I mean, before he met me he was pretty good with it, but now he's amazing. I needed a new jacket. I have a great coat, but not one single fall jacket to my name. So we embarked upon a trip to the mall and after several stores with no luck (well, there was luck in Banana Republic where we found a kelly green wool jacket that was the stuff dreams are made of and I was trying to justify the $218 for a jacket until I finally decided that'd be stupid when there was probably one somewhere else for under $100) we ended up in the Gap. Not only did he beeline to the best men's coat in the place (because he has jackets, but no coats) but he also beelined to the best fudge colored mid-thigh length jacket with big buttons for moi (see, utilizing my French). It's the best jacket ever. It goes great with my blue eyes and newly red hair. Then he found me a very Audrey Hepburn-esque sweater jacket. He's still hard to convince when it comes to things that aren't "classic" looking, but he's got the classic fashion down. I never have to worry what he'll come up with for Christmas. It's always from Anthropologie and it's always fantastic. He feels really proud when he finds something that I adore. He was in fine form this weekend. Of course there are also the times when I find something I adore and he thinks I'm being sarcastic...
Midterms, Masters and a PhD?
I have two big midterms next week, a French oral exam (shoot me) and I have to have made headway on my as-yet-unstarted thesis because I have to meet with my adviser sometime next week. I'll probably put it off until the next Tuesday during his office hours so that it gives me the weekend to bang it out so that for the rest of the semester I can just revise, have it looked at, revise, have it looked at, etc . . . until it's due and I have to present it. Ugh. Present it. In front of people. Oddly, I'm much more panicked about the idea of French oral exams than I am about presenting my thesis at a symposium. If anyone is in town on December 7th and looking for something to do and is feeling a distinct lack of Aztec art in their lives, feel free to come to my thesis presentation. It's on the Aztec Calendar Stone.
Today during my thesis class we were talking about post-structuralism, structuralism, hermeneutics (I'd never heard of it before this either), deconstruction and Foucault. I love that class. It's so much more fun than any other class I've taken during my college career. We just sit around in a conference room and discuss. I was in charge of the structuralism/post-structuralism discussion. The Master's program was also brought up. For a few minutes I was very intrigued. And then I remembered that I'm very burnt out. The last thing I want to do is graduate in April and start my Masters in April, too. On top of that, I really do not want to learn another language right now. French is enough for me. I will get my Master's (and if we end up in New York or something, Sotheby's Graduate program here I come -- it's the best one I've run across so far. Plus, it's
Sotheby's. What I wouldn't give to say, "I studied art and art history at Sotheby's in New York City." That's the best sentence that could ever come out of my mouth.) but I won't be getting it at BYU. BYU has one of the most comprehensive art history Master's programs in the nation, but I'm not going on to get my PhD so if I get my Master's at whatever college we end up for Jeremy's dental school (say, University of Minnesota--I love their art history program) it is not like I'll be getting a second rate education, nor will I feel less prepared for my PhD because like I said, I don't plan on getting a PhD. At least right now. Though the PhD holds quite a bit of allure. The dissertation to get the PhD, however, not quite as much allure. Though if I really think about it, I would
really like a PhD. Even if my plan is just to be a stay-at-home mom who paints and sells her paintings on eBay and such. It'd be nice to have.
On the lighter side of things, we re-did our apartment. Changed the office and the bedroom colors so the bedroom is now blues rather than reds and browns--it's much more relaxing. Plus, I love my paintings above the bed.
